As everyone as heard by now, former lightweight champion Nate Campbell announced his retirement yesterday (November 29) following an upset loss to Walter Estrada this past Saturday (November 27). Campbell, who started boxing professionally very late at 28 years old, defied the odds and made it to the top of the boxing world by his mid-30’s. Beats, Boxing & Mayhem takes a look back at five important fights from the Galaxxy Warrior’s career.
5. Nate Campbell vs. Joel Casamayor (January 25, 2003)
They were close in age (Campbell’s 30 to Casamayor’s 31), but the experience gap when these two fought was huge. Casamayor had been a celebrated amateur with gold medal wins going back to 1989. Campbell had just five years boxing experience and three years as a professional. The battle was close, with many hard rounds to score. In the end, Casamayor took a unanimous decision win. But in defeat, Campbell had learned he could compete with the very best.
4. Nate Campbell vs. Robbie Peden I (March 14, 2004)
The Casamayor loss yielded a positive assessment of Nate Campbell’s skills. This one served as an embarrassing wake-up to take his craft serious. Campbell was dominating Robbie Peden in this fight. In this final sequence, Campbell arrogantly mocked Peden by dropping his hands and allowing for a free shot. The foolish move resulted in Campbell not only being knocked out, but losing a shot at the IBF super-featherweight title. A few years ago, Campbell had this to say when I asked him what he learned from this fight.
“It was a great but grave defeat. If it wasn’t for that fight, I wouldn’t be world champion,” he explained. “I learned from the fight. And with boxing, it is what it is.”
3. Nate Campbell vs. Kid Diamond (Almazbek Raiymkulov) (October 1, 2005)
A focused Nate Campbell showed no mercy when he abused Kid Diamond for 10 rounds. Unlike the Peden fight, where arrogance momentarily took over, Campbell was all business in this beatdown. The fight served as a big statement on a PPV undercard that put him right back in title contention.
2. Nate Campbell vs. Ali Funeka (February 14, 2009)
Campell had just won the lightweight title in his previous bout, and was hoping to have a long championship reign. Unfortunately, his body had other plans. Campbell couldn’t shed enough weight to make the 135 pound limit, and he lost the titles he worked so hard for. Ironically, it was on the scales and not in the ring. He moved forward with this fight against an imposing 6’1 fighter in Ali Funeka. Campbell struggled to neutralize the height advantage, and usually young fighters like Funeka are able to take out aging vets. But Campbell escaped a probable loss with two key knockdowns to take a disputed majority decision. A bittersweet end to his days as a lightweight.
1. Nate Campbell vs. Juan Diaz (March 8, 2008)
No one gave Campbell much of a chance when he entered the ring against unified lightweight champion Juan Diaz. Diaz was undefeated, and had started being listed on the bottom half of pound for pound lists courtesy of his eight title defenses. Campbell wasn’t impressed, and turned Diaz’s signature swarming style against him with sharp, in-close counterpunching. Diaz suffered a bad, dripping cut over his left eye, and was compromised for most of the bout. This decision win would be the crowning achievement of Campbell’s career. It defines a career that survived for 10 years in boxing with unwavering self-belief.
Nate Campbell’s final career record is 33-7-1, with 25 KOs. All the best to the Galaxxy Warrior in retirement!
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 